News from the New York State and Local Retirement System

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After months of planning and preparation, you’re ready to apply for retirement. To get your NYSLRS pension benefit, you need to send in an application. Let’s look at what you should include with the form to help make the retirement process go more smoothly.

Know your past employment. To help ensure you receive the proper credit for your public service, please list your public employment history. Include any military service and memberships in other New York public retirement systems.

Include your beneficiary’s information. You won’t make an official beneficiary designation with this form, but including these details will help us give you specific amounts for the pension payment options that offer a lifetime benefit for a beneficiary.

See a notary. The form must be filled out completely and signed by a notary public.

Proof of Birth

Make sure we have proof of your birth date. You can send it with your retirement application or before or after, but we cannot pay pension benefits without it. We accept photocopies of the following as proof:

Other Forms

Option Election

You’ll need to choose your pension payment option, or how you want your pension paid. Option election forms are available on our website, but we will also send you a form after we process your application. If you choose an option that provides your beneficiary a lifetime pension benefit when you die, you must provide proof of your beneficiary’s birth date.

Federal Income Tax Withholding

Your NYSLRS pension isn’t subject to New York State income tax, but it is subject to federal tax. You can fill out a W-4P form any time to tell us how much to withhold from your monthly benefit. We don’t withhold income tax for other states. Visit the Retired Public Employees Association’s website to see whether your benefit will be taxed in another state.

Direct Deposit

Direct deposit is the fastest and most secure way to receive your pension benefits. You can enroll in our direct deposit program when you file for retirement. Just fill out a Direct Deposit Enrollment Application (RS6370), and return it to us.

Domestic Relations Order

If an ex-spouse is entitled to part of your pension, you should send us a copy of your domestic relations order (DRO) as soon as possible. The DRO gives us specific instructions on how to divide your benefits. We cannot finalize your pension until we review it and calculate the court-mandated distribution of your benefit. For more detailed information, please read our Guide to Domestic Relations Orders.

Retirement is a big decision, and one important factor to plan for is the day you choose to retire. When you’re eligible and ready to retire, you can select any day as your retirement date. You can even choose a weekend or a holiday. Generally, your retirement date is the first day you don’t work. It could also be the first day you don’t get paid by your employer (for example, if you use accruals before your retirement date).

Another thing to keep in mind when choosing your retirement date is when you’ll receive your first benefit payment. Once we receive your retirement application, we begin the process of gathering service and salary information from your employer to come up with your final benefit amount. Most retirees are eligible to receive partial monthly pension payments while we work on calculating their final benefits.

Partial Payments

We base your partial payments on your most recent NYSLRS retirement estimate. These monthly payments provide 90 to 95 percent of what your final pension benefit amount is estimated to be. You’ll continue to receive partial payments until we finalize your benefit. Partial payments are mailed to the address we have on file for you.

This is where your retirement date comes in. The month you retire determines when partial payments will start, not the day. If you retire in March and are eligible to receive partial payments, your first partial payment would be mailed on the first business day of May. It doesn’t matter if your retirement date is March 1 or March 31: your payment will go out on the first business day of May. You can enroll in our Direct Deposit Program at the same time you file for retirement. As soon as we are able to, your payments will be directly deposited into your account.

Keep this in mind before you settle on a date. You may need to set some money aside, as it could be five to eight weeks before your first partial payment arrives. Many retirees retire on the last day of a pay period (so final payment information is available from their employer sooner) toward the end of the month to minimize the number of weeks before they receive their first partial payment.

Filing for Retirement

Once you have a day in mind, when should you apply for retirement? You must file your retirement application with us 15 to 90 days before your retirement date. If you’re over age 70 at retirement, or if you are no longer actively employed by a public employer, you don’t have to wait the 15 days. The application is also available from your employer or can be found on our website by clicking the link above.

Would you like to read more about applying for retirement and what comes after? Read the Applying for Your Service Retirement Benefit and After You Retire sections in these publications:

Our Countdown to Retirement series highlights the steps you need to take as you approach your retirement date. This post focuses on the final three months.

Filing for Retirement

You must file your Application for Service Retirement (RS6037) with us 15–90 days before you plan to retire. You can get the form from our website or our consultation sites. Make sure to provide all the requested information and have it notarized.

If you send the form by “Certified Mail — Return Receipt Requested,” we will consider your application filed on the date it was mailed. Please don’t give your application to your employer; send it directly to NYSLRS.

Next Steps

Once we receive your application, we’ll mail you a confirmation letter. If you’ve received an estimate from us within the past 18 months, we will include three forms with the letter:

W-4P form (to choose the amount you want withheld from your pension benefit for federal taxes)

If you haven’t previously received an estimate, we will send you just the W-4P and Direct Deposit Enrollment forms, and we’ll begin processing your estimate. Once your estimate is complete, we will send it to you with the Option Election form.

Choosing Your Pension Payment Option

Select a payment option based on your most recent estimate, which shows what your pension benefit could be based on the pension payment options available to you. All of the options provide a monthly benefit for life, and some provide payments to a designated beneficiary when you die. You must file this form by the last day of the month in which you retire (unless otherwise notified).

Make Sure You’re Prepared

As your retirement date draws near, it’s important to understand the retirement process. Think about scheduling a consultation at one of our offices to file for retirement. Our information representatives can answer any questions to you have, help you complete the paperwork and notarize your retirement application. You can also contact us, if you have questions.